UPDATE: April 26, 5:11 p.m.
The Daily Illini spoke with the vice president of Illini Students Supporting Israel.
DI: Could you give me your name and your affiliation?
Omer: My name is Omer, and I am currently a senior on campus in the Gies College of Business. I am vice president of Illini Students Supporting Israel, and I am an active member of the Jewish community both through Hillel and Chabad.
DI: Could you speak on why you are here today?
Omer: I’m here to see what’s happening. I heard there was an encampment this morning, and I was absolutely scared sh–less. I came here to check and see what was going on and I’ve been coming back in bits since to see what’s been happening and I heard there was a rally going to happen. So I wanted to come here and make sure that Jewish students were safe on this campus.
DI: That kind of segues into my next question. So you are vice president for Illini Students Supporting Israel. Could you speak a bit more about that organization, maybe reactions from Jewish students and also the campus community to this organization?
Omer: So I think I can speak on the Jewish community. I don’t want to speak for any other communities on campus, but I know that Jewish students are not only scared, we are terrified. We are horrified. They are currently chanting for all Zionists to leave and they have gone beyond targeting just Israel, as they so call themselves, and have started attacking and targeting Jewish students on this campus. I know that we’ve seen how this can get very out of hand at other campuses. We saw a Yale student get stabbed in the eye. We saw instances on other campuses where this has gotten violent and extreme, and as a leader, I thought it was important to come make sure that the rest of the Jewish community was safe. So I’m here to make sure this doesn’t get out of hand and that Jewish students can also feel safe here because (the) campus is also their home.
DI: What do you think can be done to both protect the safety of Jewish students, but also allow others to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest?
Omer: I 100% think that everyone has the right to protest and we’re not here to shut down this protest. I also believe in supporting the Palestinians and I believe in making sure that they get access to food and water because it’s not fair what’s happening to them. I think the way to go about it though is what’s important here. You cannot go about calling for genocide. They are here chanting for “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” which was recently passed in a bill in Congress that says that that is an antisemitic trope and that it calls for the genocide of Jews and it should not be used. It simply goes to show that they are anti-Jews. They’re not anti-Israel. It’s gone past that. They are not pro-Palestinian, they’re anti-Israel and anti-Jewish and it’s spread to a much larger problem.
I think it’s just important to make sure the way you do this. You’re not supposed to have tents like this when they had a permit to protest on Green Street. I’m happy that they had the ability to do that. They did it the right way. This is not that. They did not get the proper procedures to do this, and they did not do it properly. They are currently here preparing to wait out the police and have to fight with the police. If you’re in that type of situation, then you’re not in the right. You should be doing this legally. I think everyone has a right to protest, it’s just simply about doing it in the right way and not calling for the extermination of Jews. If you want to help Palestinians, say that. Advocate for that. Show ways that I can do that and I can help them.
Do not say that all Zionists should leave this campus and that all Zionists are not welcome here. Do not call for the extermination of Jews because that will not help the Palestinians. Do not call for the extermination of Jews because that will not help the Palestinians. A does not lead to B. If you’re going to chant here and if you’re going to protest, make it something useful. Make it something progressive and something that will actually lead to real progressive change.
Omer: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” They’ve chanted it multiple times today. It has been recorded in their own lives. They changed it at the protests that happened a couple of days ago on Wednesday as well. So it is a very well-known whistled trope.
DI: What has been done by the University or by the Chabad to protect the interests of Jewish students?
Omer: Starting with the University, they are trying to get involved and help us. They are trying to make sure that they’re able to still protest and use their First Amendment right while still keeping students safe. I know that this type of situation is really difficult for the University. I know that it’s hard to not take a side, not to take an extreme, and we see the hard work they do. I’ve met with many admin over my four years here talking about ways to better help Jewish students, and I know that they are really trying. Chabad and Hillel can only do so much. They are not student organizations, they are in organizations that are worldwide. They don’t have a specific affiliation here with campus, and as much as they try, the only thing they can really do is create a safe space for us. And it’s hard when we don’t really feel safe on campus.
